BASF to buy stake in Belgian power plant

08 June 2011 14:13[Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--BASF has agreed to buy a 50% stake in a 400 megawatt (MW) power plant that supplies its production hub in ?xml:namespace>Antwerp, Belgium, in order to become less dependent on energy markets, the Germany-based international chemicals major said on Wednesday.

Under a deal with German utility RWE, BASF will buy RWE’s 50% stake in Zandvliet Power, a 50:50 joint venture with Belgian energy company Electrabel.

Zandvliet Power operates a combined heat and power (CHP) plant on the BASF site in Antwerp.

BASF expects to complete the transfer of the stake this summer. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“This investment makes us more attractive as an integrated chemical production site," said Wouter De Geest, CEO of BASF Antwerpen.

"Following this acquisition, we will jointly manage this CHP plant, which is important for the security of supply of electricity and steam to our chemical plants," he added.

In Germany, BASF has already invested in its own local energy production plants to generate electricity and steam at its Ludwigshafen petrochemicals production hub, the company said.

BASF's move comes as chemical and other industrial producers in Germany are worried about power supplies and prices after the announcement of Berlin’s plan to exit nuclear power generation following March’s earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.